BERLIN: German industrial orders rose more than expected in September, according to data released yesterday, offering a glimmer of hope for the country’s struggling manufacturers.
The export-reliant manufacturers have been suffering from a slowing world economy and business uncertainty linked to a trade war between the United States and China plus Britain’s planned, if delayed, exit from the European Union.
Contracts for German goods rose 1.3 percent from the previous month, helped by increases in both domestic and foreign demand, the Federal Statistics said. A Reuters poll forecast a rise of 0.1 percent.
“At last, a positive surprise from German industry,” said Jens-Oliver Niklasch, senior economist at Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg. “It looks at the moment like a bottoming out. The downturn is not continuing, although new impulses for growth are thin on the ground.”
The economy ministry said the numbers were a good starting point for the final quarter of the year and pointed out that business expectations had also brightened.
Germany’s economy shrank 0.1 percent in the second quarter and recent data have suggested continued weakness in manufacturing in the third quarter, which could put Germany in recession, generally defined as two straight quarters of contraction.
Concern about the outlook for Germany, the engine of the euro zone economy, has in turn discouraged the rest of 19-country currency union.
The data showed a 1.6 percent rise in domestic orders and 1.1 percent increase in foreign contracts, although those from the euro zone were 1.8 percent lower.– Reuters
